It's true here in steemit, the same as it is in other social media or old skool media (songs on the radio, TV, movies) or even ideas in politics, religion or even science. What is high quality is often not the same as what is popular.

I'm a niche participator, I only comment and up vote lately. Yes I have been on the trending page, long time ago. I don't know if my stories were quality or all that popular, but I thought they were passable! :-) I did plan to write something of quality to the best of my limited writing skills, and it worked out well. Possibly because it was the early days here and not a lot of competition, but it wasn't empty here either. Stellabelle was here and many other good writers. OK, done rambling! Thanks for your thoughtful article!